ScholarAdvocate AI: An Idea to Empower Families in Education
Last night, I discovered and played around with an AI app called "Magic Teacher" One feature I became fascinated with was the "Report Card Tool." By writing a few sentences of strengths and weaknesses, a customized support plan could be created for the needs of a particular student. I created a fictional student named "Reuben" and entered a few sentences of strengths and weaknesses. Out comes a report that has the level of detail of an IEP without even going through the IEP process.
The above Reuben's progress report is technical and perhaps over the head of many parents. Albeit, I could tailor Reuben's progress report and ask AI to lower the reading level. More inspiring was that the fact that the AI generated some questions that could be asked by the teacher or even the parent in supporting Reuben. Here is the output that came about:
This got me thinking: the pandemic has left so many students significantly behind to the point where students are entering high schools with elementary level phonics and mental math skills. While IQ has likely not decreased, it is apparent that our education system is letting our students fall through the cracks. And it is not the fault of teachers. While there are apt to be some parents that are not there for their children. There are likely many parents of struggling students that want to help their students but do not know how.
The AI in education market is currently catering to teachers the most. In my months of research in AI in education, I am finding that AI in education/EdTech are not targeting and enlisting the support of parents. The reality is that students are spending 8 hours a day in classrooms but are also spending 8-12 waking hours a day at home. Between programs like Khan Academy, IXL, Lexia, Duolingo ABC or even just amateur YouTube searching, there are tons of great EdTech solutions that can help students develop skills. Unfortunately, we are finding that many parents are not taking advantage of these resources.
Under the conventional educational model, students are given multiple achievement tests during the year and a proficiency test at the end of the year. Report cards give parents a general idea of how the student is performing in the classroom. Below is actual guidance from the Indiana Department of Education that guides parents through reading an iLearn Score Report
This year alone, 60 percent of Indiana Hoosier students have scored below proficient on the iLearn proficiency assessment. Even more of a failure is the way that this is communicated to parents.
The answer to these questions is very few, even among some of the more privileged parents. In underprivileged communities, the answer is just about zero. The data is not hard to produce. I would even argue that developing an interactive AI application like MagicSchool for parents could actually provide much more strategic and purposeful communication than what schools are currently providing.
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And so an idea is BORN: Lets call it ScholarAdvocate AI.
So here's the model of how it works: throughout the year, teachers and/or schools put in data like NWEA scores, course grades, behavioral logs/class Dojo data or student observations. This could be done through a student information system like PowerSchool or Skyward. Multiple times per quarter, a report can be generated that allows parents to engage with AI to provide a complete picture of how their student is performing but also customized recommendations for skill development exercises, executive functioning development and ways a parent can work with a student at home.
At the click of a button, a school can generate a report with multiple data points (grades, NWEA achievement test scores, proficiency test scores, behavior logs/class Dojo data) and provide a parent with the strengths and weaknesses of their student. Additionally, like in Magic School, parents can be given prompts like:
"What exercises should I have my child work on to boost their mathematics skills?"
"What are some grade level appropriate books that I can read to my child tonight? BTW my child is interested in robots"
"My child is not getting what they need out of a particular class, construct an email that I can send to my child's teacher to brainstorm a solution to improve their performance"
And when these questions are answered, ScholarAdvocate AI can arm the parent with tips on how to help their child AT HOME.
To demonstrate, let's go back to the 3rd grader that got a score of 5593 on the iLearn Test. Instead of being thrown jargon like NWEA/RIT scores and their child being labeled as "Below Proficient," imagine a world where the parent is instead given the opportunity to interact with an AI chat on their smartphone that can coach them and help them make school work better for their child. On their smartphone, they can be linked to specific exercises on high quality learning apps that are at a level where the student can learn to master material and learn independently rather than conform to an arbitrary grade level standard. And perhaps, if their scholar really needs support, they can even be informed of the $1000 tutoring grant that the education system has failed to tell them about.
Are you sold? Come brainstorm with me on how we can make ScholarAdvocateAI and its dreams a reality!
And as a bonus, check out my somewhat tacky free AI created video selling ScholarAdvocateAI